Thinking of Getting SSB4: What's Changed?

[MockRock]

Hey everyone, this is my first post here. Smash has been my favourite series since I bought a GameCube, and I'm starting to consider buying a Wii U entirely to play SSB4. However, $300 is no pocket change to play (probably) one game, so I'd like to educate myself as much as possible before making the decision. What can you tell me about the changes between this game and Brawl? I've never been an incredibly competitive player, but I'm definitely above average and would spend a large chunk of my in-game time on For Glory. Things that I already am aware of:

1. Edgehogging is no longer an option.

2. Random and transforming elements have been largely removed.

3. The newcomers have a lot more unusual moves and playstyles than previous games.

4. The game overall seems a lot more cartoonish than Brawl, which I'm honestly not the biggest fan of, but whatever. I do think the sound effects of Ike's sword are pretty awful in this game, though.

So, what have I missed, in terms of mechanics, meta, the overall "feel" of the game, etc. I'd love to hear whatever feedback the community has to give!

 

[LunarWingCloud]

The game is faster than Brawl, but overall match length is still the same because most KOs happen as late as Brawl or later. Not a whole lot of characters are actually terrible to the point of being unusable. You can pretty much #gitgud with whoever you want. No more chainthrows, knockback has been retooled for throws to prevent it.

The game is every bit as solid as anyone looking into it is hoping it would be. Along with the myriad of other good games out or coming out for Wii U, you should definitely pick up the system and the game.

Warning you now though, GC controller adapters are hard to find, so if you're hoping to use your GameCube controllers, you may need to look into that third party adapter I heard about. I dunno much about it since I got my first-party one for the game's launch. If you can't get ahold of one, WiiU Pro Controller is a good second choice. (This is all assuming you really really want to use the GameCube controller for the game.)

 

[Raijinken]

The cartoony style and attack animations took me some getting used to, but I found I actually like them for more clearly showing hitboxes and whatnot on a lot of attacks.

As far as the metagame goes, Smash4 is quite unique. Melee was dominated by aggression, Brawl was dominated by defense. Smash4 leans aggressive, but only slightly - defensive options are far more punishable than they were in Brawl, but defensive character designs (like Robin, Duck Hunt, and so on) are viable like they never could have been in Melee. It's quite refreshing, in my opinion. Consequently, as LunarWingCloud said, you can basically pick your favorite style (or character) and play them with at least a reasonable level of viability. And while there are no plans for ongoing patching, we've been shown that it's not impossible for balance to change on occasion if things Sakurai and Nandai find broken are discovered (infinites seem to be getting this treatment).

The newcomer playstyles are certainly unique and take some getting used to. Unlike, say, Brawl, where you could transfer a lot of a given character's Melee strategies over, most characters got significantly tweaked (even returners) and have a new trick or two up their sleeves. For instance, DK can use DownB in midair, Peach got a new UpAir, and Marth's counter now scales. Additionally, in addition to edge mechanics, airdodging into the ground got tweaked to actually penalize you for about a third of a second, instead of being a safe transition. Try your best to treat it as a fresh new game instead of a straight sequel.

And of course, whenever you're not playing For Glory (which is great practice assuming your internet and your opponents' are reliable), there are Custom Moves to look forward to. They swap functionality on specials just enough to give characters new ways to approach or handle matchups, and so far, haven't been found to be game-breaking in any way (current trends show that most perceived top-tiers don't really benefit from the moves, while lower-tiers benefit well).

All in all, as a player who has loved every Smash game, I'd definitely say Smash4 is worth it (I got the U pretty much just for it, though there are certainly other games worth getting). Your mileage may vary, and it's always best to try before you buy when dealing with big purchases. But if you can't find someone near you to let you play for a bit and get a feel for it, I'd err on the side of "The game is awesome so go get it."

 

[Deleted member 269706]

Ike's sword doesn't sound like car crashes anymore, which is a shame, but he's got some reasonable buffs in exchange...But seriously, a ton has changed, it's an awesome game. The Wii U is easily my favorite Smash game to date. The speed seems perfect, and there's so much about it that people are discovering on a daily basis. Sakurai and his team worked hard, and if you remotely liked Brawl or Melee or 64, you'll love this one!

 

[MockRock]

Thanks for the replies, guys, good to see that people are liking the game!